floating down the merrimac river in rural missouri across the state, residents have been warned to -- warned of major to historic flooding over the next few days. that can go into early next week. they are preparing for the worse. one place where the worse is expected is west alton, missouri, north of st. louis. cnn's alina machado is there with the latest. >> reporter: allison and christine, high water is already blocking several roads in and around west alton, missouri. the situation is expected to get much worse before things improve. just 70 miles from here, there are several homes and businesses already under water in union, missouri. authorities there telling cnn they had to rescue at least two people who got caught up in the rising flood waters. missouri governor jay nixon is asking people to please avoid driving through roads that are covered with water. >> the amount of rain we received in some places in excess of a foot has caused

river levels not only to rise rapidly but to go to places they've never been before. now that the rain has moved out, the threat has changed but it is not by any means over. >> the mayor of west alton, missouri, has already issued a volunteer evacuation order and most people have followed that order. he says about 50 residents have decided to ride this one out. allison and christine. >> alina, thank you for that. illinois also hit by severe floods this inundated road is in a residetial neighborhood in wood river. city workers filling up and peopleing up sanding bas all along the mississippi river there to protect against flooding areas of the mississippi river, topping flood levels they hit in the spring by a foot. forecasters warning it will stay feet above flood stage through thursday night at least. >> that same storm system doing serious damage in michigan. you see this tree flattened a car in detroit.

elsewhere in the city, more etrys koppeling over, crushing roads, all this blamed on roaring wind, look at the size of that etry. listen to what happened to one woman and her family. >> we were sitting watching tv. we heard a sound, we thought it was a large car crash. it lasted about 30 to 40 seconds. we went to the front door. we seen a big tree on the front porch and know we can't get out of the house. >> meantime, the northeast is hit with a snowstorm. about five inches falling in ermt have. three people died in the state when their suv crashed head on into a tractor-trailer. this happening in killington. at least four other people were injured. this was the scene in albany, new york. cars taking their time as the flakes fell. the area hit with at least six inches of snow. >> it has been so mild for so long. storms and icy conditions causing travel headaches. there are 250 flight delays and cancellations in the u.s. so far this morning. yesterday ending at midnight the

weather had acted about 7200 flights, allison. >> lots of headaches. now with the rain and the snow mostly behind under the circumstances, the question is what's ahead for the millions in the floods warning zones, let's go to our meteorologist for the latest. >> good morning. this is a slow motion disaster. okay, we know what occurred in the past several weeks. we go back on the 1st of december, over 4,000 record temperatures set across the country. this time of year into the winter season, most of the precipitation in this country impacted by flooding typically comes down to snow. the great job of absorbing the runoff and absorbing the water levels is typical. we have increased runoff. above moisture levels and river levels near historic values. you take a look, widespread. a lot of the watches around warnings in place perhaps a week maybe even two weeks in some of these spots. so i want to show you the formats when it comes to the river basin. you have the missouri, of course, arkansas, ohio river as

well, all of them feed right into the mississippi. a lot of water, of course, in recent days. we touched on about 70 tornadoes touching down across this region. underneath all of that, we had historic rainfall come down, some areas as much as a foot of rain come down across this region. you take a look at the observation, what you think it will be when it k08s to the case of water and around new year's eve will, st. louis could be peaking from 1993, anywhere from memphis, january 3rd. this continues to go downstream into early next week into parts of louisiana. for this pattern, it continues with the sunny skies, are expected to return and take a look, there is some scattered light showers in this region. nothing in the way of heavy rachael. your forecast high temperatures will remain rather toasty around the florida pan hand him, jacksonville into the ideas, upper 70s around charleston. still above temperatures in the northeast after some brief wintry mix there in part.

in central park, a new record set. 275 days since the last time temperatures went below 32 degrees. march 30th if you are counting. the last record from 1998. keep in mind from '97 into 'make the, we have an el nino year in place as well. a lot of records, some of them we don't want to see. >> the trees are confused. you know, blossoms in some neighborhoods. >> we have some flowers in the back yard. >> did you notice that here, too? it is a tree, trees are all across parts of the country. >> wait until they get that hard freeze, sometime in 2016. thank you for that. a political news brakeing overnight. former new york governor george pataki ending his campaign for the republican presidential nomination. he never broke out of single digits in the polls or onto the main stage in the republican debate. he struggled to draw attention by attacking the front runner donald trump. pataki used his equal time, matching trump's appearance on "saturday night live" to

announce he was dropping out. he used that time to take a final shot at donald trump. >> well, tonight is the end of my journey for the white house as i suspend my campaign for president. i'm confident we can elect the right person. someone who will bring us together and who understands that politicians, including the president must be the people's servant and not their master. >> all right. let's begin a little deeper with everything political. joining us now, cnn politics reporter live in our walk bureau. good morning. >> good morning. go all right. let's talk about george pataki, the field now, whittling down to 11. we just saw him. >> 11, still very crowded. >> it feels like this race has been already been going on for years, already. what does it say about what's happened? >> it says the established politicians, someone like a three-term governor of new york are struggling so badly to get any traction at all. the george pataki is using the

time that nbc gave him. this is, of course, the time that he was given for free as equal time after donald trump's "saturday night live" appearance. he is using that time to get back into the race. this doesn't really shake anything up. pataki is not polk even at 1%. so there's no real change here. it does say something about the climate here, it's a struggle for established politicians, especially people who were figures of george bush's administration, politics past to get any traction at all in this climate. >> it is difficult at all to get a word in edgewise with trump. >> now it feels as though we are going back to the 90s. now we are talking about bill clinton. we are talk object about marital indiscretions. donald trump says this is fair game. listen to what ehe said yesterday. >> it's fair game in this campaign? >> yes, they would be, frankly,

hillary brought up the whole thing with sexist and she has a major problem. it happens to be right in her house. if she wants to do that, we're going to go right into the president. the expresident. we'll see how it all comes out. and i feel very confident that it will come out very well for us. we'll say this, the last person that hillary wants to run against is me. >> is that where we're going? back to the 90s, into the bedroom with weiss candidates or is this going to peter out here? >> it probably won't peter out. a couple important pieces in context here. one, bill clinton is about to ramp up his presence on the campaign trail. he will hit it in january in a way he hasn't so far. he has been behind the scenes. he will be on the trail. so his marital indirections will be ammo for trump. the interesting thing trump is trying to do here is draw hillary clinton into a personal fight. she has been really careful to

criticize him. only criticize him when he is alienateing large groups of people, latinos, muslims, or women. now, trump sees, you know, his lower they'rability ratings among women. the advantages democrats have with women and he also sees hillary clinton is already somewhat unpopular, just like him, with the broader general electorate. he knows if he can get into a personal food fight with her, even if it might hurt him. it probably hurts her more. so he's trying to knock her off course. keep her from being able to focus on politics. >> it's interesting. you say he's trying to knock her off course. reporters still peppering her with questions. i want you to listen, then we'll come back on the other side. >> your response to donald trump about your husband? >> she could have answered. so she's ignoring the questions,

but at some point, eric, don't you think she has to step up and address what's right in front of her? >> right. >> actually right behind her. like 20 years behind her. >> right. exactly. she will probably come up with a good way to sort of blow it off. yes, this is going to be, donald trump has brought a high enough profile into the race and media attention, it's hard not to address something when he is waging a sustained personal attack on you. he's made very clear that he's going to keep up the attack on hillary clinton. it's a part of the reason he's doing that, he's demonstrating to republicans that he has strength and leadership qualities. the ability to take her on in the general election. that's something that conservative voters will value. so he knows he has the lead. he is turning his attention away from primary rivals towards a potential general election and trying to boost themselves, headed into iowa and new hampshire that way. >> i think it hurts him with women. i don't have poll numbers in

front of me, bill clintons number with women. 20 years ago the impeachment stuff seems so ancient history and donald trump in 28 famously said that was all thaun sense. >> right, absolutely. keep in mind the clintons and trump were friends or had the appearance of being friends. >> golf buddies. >> yeah. exactly. >> bill clinton had high approval ratings across the boar. attacking bill clinton seems, i don't know. >> sort of a political tactic, from his strength, turned into a weakness, you are right. hillary clinton does a lot better with women. donald trump with men. that's sort of the party divide that we've seen for a long time. we should watch trump is trying to muddy the waters here anyway he can. >> i want to talk about chrissies tee, he's there in new hampshire, attacking marco rubio's record. jeb bush is attacking it, too. attacking marco rubio's record. i want you to listen to chris

christie. >> my time in the senate. i have close a 90% attendance record. but candidates i think as we get down the stretch, some get a little nasty in their attack, that's fine. we will continue the campaign on what i will do when i'm president. >> rubio's record, i mean, look, let's be honest, when you go out. you campaign hard in a crowded field. you are not doing your day job. >> i think people know if you are running for president. >> that means you are making a lot of trips to iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. jeb bush has tried this attack against marco rubio before. fact, rubio is still the , in establishment candidate with the most traction. and, yeah, rubio is sort of pointing out no one has much room to talk. running for president means giving up something here. jeb bush is out of office. chris christie is not. christie spent a lot of time in new hampshire. yeah, running for president

means spending time away from your day job. that's just the way it goes. >> perhaps voters have understand that and not care about them being and doing their daily duties. we will talk later in the show. >> eric will the next year, well that the early hours of the morning. thanks for getting up early. the so-called affluenza teenager expected in the u.s. after weeks on the run, what we are learning now about the time ethan couch spent in mexico with his mother and the charges he and she could now be facing next.

no longer a fugitive, the so-called affluenza teen is expected to return to the u.s. if a matter of hours now. ethan couch environmented his probation in a drunk driving manslaughter case and fled along with his mother. the question now is, what will they both face when they are brought back to texas?

cnn's ed lavandara has the details. >> reporter: authorities are awaiting the return of ethan couch and his mother tawnya couch. they were captured monday afternoon in the mexican resort town of puerto vallarta. we are told by mexican officials they did not resist. they were not armed. but they were taken into custody, are now in the process of being brought back to the united states. it's not exactly clear how long that process is going to take. when tawnya couch arrived back here in the united states, she will be charged with interfering with the apprehension of a fugitive. >> that is a felony charge. she faces up to ten years in prison. now, other authorities are trying to figure out just exactly what to do with ethan couch. obviously, his case mab the source of great frustration for many people here. especially the families of the four people killed in that drunken car crash back in 2013. prosecutors here if ft. worth are trying to move ethan couch's

case from the juvenile system into the adult system. as it stands right now the most he could probably face, jail time is about up to four months and prosecutors say they do not believe that that is enough. that's why they're trying to move his case from the juvenile system to the adult system. there is a hearing scheduled for that on january 19th of next year. so we'll take some time before we really hear the future fate of etan couch. right now, these texas authorities waiting on both of them to be brought back from mexico here to the ft. worth area. christine, allison. >> all right, ed, both of them expected to be brought back to texas today. chicago police officer jason van dyke pleading not guilty to six counts of murder, one count of official misconduct in the shooting death of a black teenager last year. laquan mcdonald's shooting was captured on police dash-cam video. the shooting sparking protests, has led to calls for mayor rahm emanuel to resign. van dyke's attorney says he may

request a change of venue for the trial in cleveland, the second day of protest over a grand jury's decision not to indict two police officers in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old tamir rice. demonstrators marched down the streets on tuesday. much of their anger is directed at the county prosecutor who oversaw the shooting investigation, which ended monday with the anounszment officers timothy loehmann and gram frank garmback would face no charges. 24 hours until the ball drops and a million people are, pictured to be in time's square on new year's eve. the mayor says time's square will be one of the safest places on earth. >> there has been a lot of chatter. there has been a lot of traffic in terms of information around the world related to terror, but there is not a credible threat directed at new york. there is not a threat that's been corroborated in a

meaningful way. we have been in constant touch with the fbi and with homeland security and other agencies. >> still, mayor de blasio saying those ringing in the new year should remain vigilant. time for an early start, u.s. stock futures are lower. oil is the key here, tumbling again down another 2%. there are only two days of trading left this year. stocks are flat. stocks moved sideways most of the year, except for a decline in the recovery in the fall. right now the s&p is up 1% for 2015. very different from the double digit gains we have become used to. look at the last two years. look at what a run it has been. 28 you had like a 38% decline in the s&p 500. steady gains and a pause in 2011. this year, just about 1%. what itself in store for necks year? expect more double digit gains. your portfolio could get a bigger boost in the prediction. about a 6% gain for the s&p 500

by the end of the year. >> if that's what it will be. i have to take it. >> mike tyson versus a hoverboard. who got knocked out? andy scholes has this morning's bleacher report next. . sure, tv has evolved over the years.

it's gotten squarer.

brighter. bigger. it's gotten thinner. even curvier. but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. all right. after another disappointing season, the philadelphia eagles have fired head coach crip kelly. >> -- chip kelly. >> good morning, guy, a rocky three years in philadelphia for chip kelly. when he was given control over personnel, he made a punch of moves that were not very popular with eagles fans, this past year, he traded the running back

lesean mccoy. this just a season after he decided it was time to trade with sean jackson. he won 12 games in philadelphia. he failed to ever win a playoff game. he got to check out this back page cover of the philadelphia daily news this morning. it has the headline dead duck. okay, referring to where kelly coached for the eagles. against the ducks clemson will be without three players for tomorrow's college football semi-finals. according to multiple reports, davo sweeney sent the players home for failing drug tests. mccain is the top d threats. the undefeated tigers will take on the oklahoma sooners tomorrow in the orange bowl. that game will be followed by the cotton bowl, alabama taking on michigan state. winners from these games will be in the national championship game in arizona on january 11th. lsu's leonard fornet, putting on

a show, leonard fournette. he also caught a touchdown in the game. fournette finishes this season shy of 2,000. lsu easily beat the red raiders. one of the most popular gift, okay the self balancing scooter. it looks like someone in mike tyson's household got one. here's mike tyson trying it out. he goes down and that happens to quite a few people who get on a bouncing scooter for the first time. i tell you what, guys, the first time i got on one was right before "early start" one morning, i went crashing down into a trash can and nearly missed the hit. >> what were you doing messing around on a hoverboard? >> you know what's interesting, watch anybody, they get on it.

immediately a smile on your face. i know when i went on it. >> it's so much fun. >> it is. >> the airlines will take them on an airplane. they're having fire problems with them. you can't bring them on airplanes. >> i have one. i'm worried about my house burning down all the time. >> oh god. >> thanks, andy. >> thank you, andy scholes, this morning, 27 minutes past the hour. the death toll rising, historic winter storms. parts of the mid-west under water, folks, it will only get worse. we'll tell you where next.

>> historic flooding as a massive winter storm barrels across the country. the death toll rising this morning. we're tracking the damage and what comes next the race for president shrinking this morning and then there were 11, george pataki calling it quits. not without a few parting words. >> the affluenza teen expected back in the u.s. hours from now. what we're learning about his time in mexico.

welcome back to "early start." >> it is 30 minutes, almost 31 minutes past the hour. breaking overnight, officials say almost 50 people now have been killed in weather-related accidents in the past week. while the storms are over, the flooding downstream is about to get worse. more than 18 million americans in 13 states now living undered into warnings. for some, it's already too late. a newspaper reporter caught this cabin, watch this, a cabin gloating down the merrimac river in rural missouri. across the state, residents have been warned major historic flooding into early next week. they are preparing for the worse. one place where the worse is expected, west alton, missouri, just north of st. louis. cnn's alina machado is there, she has the latest for us. >> reporter: allison, christine, high water is already blocking several roads in and around west alton, missouri the situation is expected to get much worse before things improve. and just 70 miles from here,

there are several homes and businesses already under water in union, missouri. authorities there telling cnn that hay had to rescue at least two people who got caught up in the rising flood waters. missouri governor jay nixon is asking people to please avoid driving through roads that are covered with water. >> the amount of rain we received in some places in excess of a foot has caused river levels not only to rise rapidly but to go to places they've never been before him now that the rain has moved out the threat has changed, but it is not by any means over. >> reporter: the mayor of west alton, missouri, has already issued a voluntary evacuation order. middle east people have followed that order. he says about 50 residents have decided to ride this one out. allison, christine. >> okay. thanks for that in illinois, also hit by severe floods, this inundated road you see here is in a residential neighborhood. city workers filling up, piling

up sand backs along the mississippi river to protect against flooding. the arkansas river which flows into the mississippi, topping those flood levels by a foot. forecasters warn it will stay 8 feet above flood stage through thursday night at least. >> that same storm system doing serious damage in michigan. here you can see, this tree flattening this car, this actually in detroit. elsewhere in the city, more trees toppled over, pressing homes, blocking roads, all lanes on the roaring winds, we will let you know what happened to one woman and her family. >> we were sitting watching tv. we heard a sound. we thought it was a large car crash. it lasted 30 to 40 seconds. we went to the front door. a big tree on the front porch. know we can't get out of the house. >> glad she is okay. meantime the northeast hit with a snowstorm about five inches fell in vermont. three people died in that state when their suv crashed head on into a tractor-trailer in killington. injured. four other people were

this was the scene in albany, new york, cars taking their own sweet time as flakes fell, hitting at least six inches of snow. they're out of practice. >> we're not used to driving out of the storms and icy conditions causing major travel headaches. already, there are more than 250 flight delays and cancellations in the u.s. yesterday ending at midnight, the weather had affected about 7200 flights. >> so many people traveling for the holidays, ryeing to get back. now with the rain and snow mostly behind us, what's ahead for the millions in the flood warning zone. >> allison, christine, good morning. yes, it's being compared in some places to the 1993 floods that occurred across this region. what is different compared to the '93 event. it happened in the spring and summer season. we had tremendous snow a. lot of rainfall t. snow melted. the water levels are on the rise. this happened over a several day period from historic rainfall. you take a look.

over 440 river gauges, reporting some flooding. about a 20,000 square mile of land, deeming with the flooding that takes place over this region. there are about a dozen ways you can pause levys to fail. levys the primary concern as the water is to be meandered downstream, it meets up with the mississippi river, works down into the gulf of members colorado a lot of the levys are taking on so much water from river sources coming in. not only are they overtopping, in some areas, it becomes a realistic possibility that this place is a large number of people. we displaced people in this sort of a scenario, of course, you have people leaving the property behind, leaving a situation there for a potential fatality to take place, because we know flooding which accounts for about 81 fatalities a year. tornadoes come in second and we take a look at how typically the united states flooding fatality takes their tool. about 70%, in 2014, 70% were occurring while people were

driving. something worth noting as this water moves downstream towards portions of the gull of mexico. >> thanks for. that we got political news breaking overnight. former new york governor george pataki ending his campaign for the republican presidential nomination. you look at it, though, pataki never broke out of the sing him digits in the polls or as a result onto the main stage in the republican debate. he struggled quite a bit to draw attention in the crowded field of candidates attacking donald trump. pataki, though, used his equal time, matching his appearance on "saturday night live" to announce he was dropping out. he used that time to take a final parting shot at donald trump. while tonight is the end of my journey for the white house as i suspend my campaign for president, i'm confident we can elect the right person, someone who will bring us together and who understands that politicians, including the president, must be the people's servant and not their master. >> joining us now to discuss all

the cnn political reporter eric bradner, bright and early for us. the news he used equal time on nbc to have have television spot. holding that in the back pock, getting closer to the early voting states. he really just couldn't hold on. so now you have 11. you have 11 in this crowded field. and you have donald trump. basically announcing a switch in strategy. he is going to start spending money. he's going to start spending 2 million a week he says maybe in ad spending. who does that put pressure on now? who is the most i guess under pressure to do better or drop out like pataki? >> well, it puts pressure on the entire field because trump has not spent any money on advertising so far. he's gotten so much free media attention, he hasn't had to put his own money into it. candidatings like ted cruz and

jeb bush are relying on super packs to do a big chunk of tear advertising. those super packs don't get as lower rates as individual candidates actually do. so financially, it's a little bit tough for them. but you look at some of the lower tier candidates, people who are struggling to gain traction. there are several candidates, chris christie, john kasich. carley fiorina, who are putting a lot of their hopes on new hampshire. it will be safe to watch. to see if one of them can merge and outperform expectations there, get a little bit of traction. we are definitely in a winnowing process, several candidates not making it to the first voting. pataki is now the fourth current or former governor to drop out. bobby jond am, rick perry, scott walker the others. i love the irony to use the free time he got because of donald trump so dom nated by outsiders. >> but leadership experience. look at george pataki. it used to be you campaigned on

your record, now campaigning on your experience and record -- back seat. you know, trump did in this impromptu news conference yesterday, he gave an idea on the commercials. he did say they will focus on issues like trade and security and among other things. do you think these ads will help elevate him even more? because, hey, maybe we'll hear some issues? >> they probably will. you know, by the way, trade is a fascinating issue. what he's talking about when he's railing on mexico is really like rolling back nafta, which i realize is in the weeds issue, it's very, very different from where the modern republican party is on trade, it's a very pro trade party. yes, trump is doing well on those issues. he's sort of turning, you know, prois turning it on his head. this is a way to get away from

the issues that got in traction early on as he was taking these personal shots. we were wondering, is this the one that knocks him out of the race. it never was. >> speaking of the personal shots. he is dredgeing up the past, talking about the transgressions of bill clinton. one thing that hillary clinton is doing, though, whenever she is being asked about what trump is doing, taking these pot shots at her about the past. she's ignoring. listen to what she did during one moment yesterday. >> your response to donald trump's comments about your husband? >> nice to see you. thank you. yes, she is. >> any comments, mrs. clinton? >> so she answered the question about mr. charlotte was going to have a sibling, her granddaughter. she didn't answer the question about her husband and donald trump's shots at her husband. is this what it's going to be? are we going to be, are we going to be relitigating the 1990s?

>> especially since donald trump has said that it was nonsense. >> right. we probably are, anyway, what donald trump has said in the past does not seem to matter during the course of this presidential campaign. he's very up front about the fact that he used to be, used to consider himself a liberal democrat. so he's sort of thrown his own history way behind him and is ignoring himself. hillary clinton has tried to stay out of these really personal fights with donald trump. she wants to focus on policy. she wants to hit him when he is alienating big groups of people. latinos. bill clinton will be on the twain trail a lot more starting if january. so far he's just been in the backgrounds, fund raising. that's going to create opportunities for donaldtrump to bring this up. bill clinton is not going to be able to avoid. >> she's not going to be able to avoid the questions either. right? >> exactly. she will do one on one interviews.

she will be in town halls, where she will be asking the question directly. there will be no way to brush it off. i think it's just a matter of sort of waiting to find the right opening for her. but there is no doubt. trump is trying to muddy the waters here, make it personal, it will be tough for hillary clinton to avoid. >> he says she made it personal first about talking about sex. i got to say, bill clinton is a masterful politician, love him or hate him. agree on policy or not. he's a national politician. he has never campaigned in a campaign like this before. so it will be a new experience for the former president, no question. eric bradner, thank you so much. nice to see you this morning. >> you too. the so-called affluenza teenager back in the u.s. today after weeks on the run, but what charges will he now be facing next? w to keep his wheels spinning. nice shorts, dad... this is what the pros wear. uhhh... that's why he starts his day with those two scoops in heart healthy kellogg's raisin bran. ready to eat my dust? too bad i already filled up on raisins. kellogg's raisin bran. deliciously heart healthy.

no longer a fugitive.

the so-called anunes teffluenza. ethan couch violated his manslaughter case and fled along with his mother. the question now is what will they both face when they are brought back to texas? cnn's ed lavandara has the details. >> reporter: authorities are awaiting the return of ethan couch and his mother tawnya couch. they were cap thurd monday afternoon in puerto vallarta. authorities took them into custody. we are told they did not resist, they were not armed. they are now in the process of being brought back to the occupation. it's not exactly clear how long that process is going to take. but when tawnya couch arrives back here in the united states, she will be charged with interfering with the apprehension of a fugitive. >> that is a felony charge. she now faces up to ten years in

prison and now other authorities here are trying to figure out just exactly what to do with ethan couch. obviously, he has been the source, his case has been the source of great frustration for many people here in the ft. worth area. especially the families of the four people killed in that drunken car crash back in 2013. ross securities here in ft. worth are trying to move ethan couch's case from the juvenile system into the adult system. as it stands right now, the most he could probably face any jail time he could face is about up to four months. prosecutors say they do not believe that is enough. that's why they're trying to move his case from the juvenile system to the adult system. there is a hearing set for january 19ing of next year. so we'll take some time before we hear the future fate of ethan couch. right now, these texas authorities are waiting on both of them to be brought back from mexico here to the ft. worth area. christine, allison. >> okay. ed laugh /* ed lavandara, thank

you very much a million people are expected to crowd into new york city's time's square for new year's eve. officials are saying, it's going to be a high level of security with 6,000 police guarding the revelers. the mayor says time's square will be one of the safest places on earth. >> there has been a lot of chatter and information around the world related to terror, but there is not a credible threat directed at new york. there is not a threat that's been corroborated in a meaningful way. we have been in constant touch with the fbi and homeland security and other agencies. >> still mayor de blasio says those ringing in the new year should remain vigilant. >> time for an early start on your money, u.s. stock futures down slightly this morning as oil prices down more than 2% right now. there are only two trading days left in the year. yesterday's rise, a light volume. enough for the s&p 500 up for a

year. u.s. streaming service spotify sued for $150 million in royalties, a suit filed by guitarists and vocalist david lowrie, some songs have not been paid the company says it plans to pay every penny it owes, sometimes the data is missing, long and complete. megastars taylor swift and adele kept their music off spotify. some criticize streaming for poorly compensating artists. mikaela pereira joins us with an interview on "new day." >> ahead on "new day," we will take a look at this epic historic flooding, happening in the mid-west. rivers are about to crest at record levels. there are millions of people in harm's way in the mid-west. we will bring you live reports on the threats, including when the his tric flooding will peak and where. also the so-called affluenza teen and his mother are expected

pa back in the united states today, they were captured in members colorado ethan couch facing up to four months behind bars for violating his probation on a drunk driving manslaughter conviction. his mother could be looking at a longer stretch behind bars. we have a live report of the young man injured in that 2013 drunk driving case will join us today. also christine, i don't know if you knew this, you left behind john berman on the set. >> i forgot what he looks like. oh, hi, john. >> three hours of that. >> he looks the same. >> all right, i'll see you very soon. it's been a record year at the box office, "star wars" wasn't the only force behind it. big money at the movies. that's next.

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ten of the terror group's senior leaders over the past month. one was this man. charaffe al mouadan. they say he had direct links to the november terrorist attacks that left 100 people dead. a coalition says he was killed in an airstrikes december 24th. like several of the other isis officials killed, he was planning more attacks against the u.s. american spies keeping their eyes and years on israel. the u.s. intercepted communications between israeli benjamin netanyahu and hid aides. it came when he was taking his campaign to capitol hill. the administration operating no comment on the journal's story, except to say in general the u.s. doesn't conduct foreign intelligence under surveillance unless there is a quote specific and validated national security purpose.

let's get an early start on your money. u.s. stock futures are down this morning. >> that as oil keeps item himinhimin tumbling. there are two trading days left in the year. yesterday's rise in light trade volume was enough to put the s&p 500 up for the year, just barely getting into the top 1%, it just got a little easier. it took about $429,000 to make it into this elite race in 2013 according to new irs data. that's down from $429,000 earlier, thanks to a slew of tax changes. all right. you want to get into omore exclusive club. the top 1%? it took 9.5 million to join the more elite. the top 1% earned 19% of all income and paid 38% of all federal income taxes. well, it was a record year at

the box office. that's thanks to the force, dinosaurs and stranded astronauts. the 2015 u.s. box office has crossed the $11 billion mark for the first time in history. talk about 11 billion dollars. that's partially because of inflation, oh, and a little movie called "star wars" "the force awakens" the film has shattered records and property in more than $540 million the last few weeks. but the record breaking really stretched out over the spire year, thanks to films like "jurassic world" and my favorites "the martian" a new year's terror plot in belgium. the men are members of a biker gang with ris history to a growing investigation. it's known as gangster jihadism where muslims are radicalized in prison and spread the ideology to old friends when they get out. let's go to cnn erin mclaughlin, is there any indication how close they were to this plot in

carrying it out? >> reporter: at the moment, allison, authorities are saying it's very much the subject of this ongoing investigation. but what we are learning is more information about the affiliation of the two suspects in question. now, their identities have not yet been released. but a senior official counterterrorism official in belgium telling cnn they were believed to be members of aic booing gang called the kamikaze riders. they were to have a criminal past, which includes, they say, robbery. they were ultimately to be a part of a wideir group, up to 3 individuals believed to have been radicalized, known as this band of crazies by authorities. now this official telling cnn authorities tipped the decision to move in on the suspects. they discovered they had been discussing the possibility of attacking a key location in

belgium, including the grand plat. the concern being potential aspects the suspects could have had to weapons, given their criminal connections. now a number of raids were conducted in various locations across belgium. those raids yielded no weapons, but authorities say they're taking this plot very seriously. >> clearly, belgium officials still on edge, erin mclaughlin, thank you so much for your report. historic flooding in the mid-west. "new day" starts right now. >> this is insanity, all of this water. >> rising rivers all across the state of missouri. >> residents have been warned of major and historic flooding. >> the amount of rain we received cause river waters to rise rapidly but to go to places they've never been before the jig is up for ethan couch and his mother. >> they had something akin to a going away party before they left town. >> our request for the court is

to transfer his pro biegs to the adult court. >> what will they both face when they're brought back to texas? we haven't severed the head of the state yet. there is much more fighting to do. >> this is "new day," with chris cuomo, allison camera that and mccay la pereira. >> good morning to you. john berman and christine romans are with me today. we begin with flooding of historic proportions. more than 1,800 million people are under flood warnings in 13 states. mandatory evac wakes are under way in some parts of missouri as the mississippi river is forecast to crest at its highest level in history. it is not the ed river

expected to go over its banks. cnn all over the story this morning. let's begin with alina machado. we have a look at the floodwaters. good morning, alina. >> reporter: missouri bracing for historic dangerous flooding, dozens of counties facing a severe threat as mississippi, missouri and merrimack rivers approaching record levels. >> the threat has changed but it is by no means over. >> reporter: the deadly floodwaters claiming more than a dozen lives. swollen rivers rise and crest in the next 48 hours, many fear this is just the beginning.